Because what may not be apparent to a Princeton Ph.D., is more than obvious to a 70 year old housewife in Istanbul:

[on Wall Street Journal quote]
"I'm keen to save, so keeping gold at home is easy for me; there is no complicated procedure," said Ayten Altin, a 70-year-old housewife in Istanbul. "In an emergency, I can convert it to cash and I don't have to wait for the bank to say the asset has matured."